Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ensilage removing device and, more particularly, to a device for converting compacted ensilage to a consumable ensilage form.
2. Background Information
Historically, farmers have harvested ensilage crops from their fields and stored the harvested ensilage in large storage units. The harvesting procedure generally entails field chopping the ensilage and blowing or dumping the chopped ensilage into a storage unit, such as vertical silos, pit or trench silos. In the case of open trench or pit silos, the ensilage is typically confined between two parallel walls open at one or sometimes both ends. The open ends afford mechanical access for removing the ensilage from the pit or trench. Tractors or skid steer loaders, equipped with forked buckets, are frequently used to remove compacted ensilage from these pit or trench silos. The current mechanical techniques for removing the ensilage are ineffective and often lead to substantial ensilage spoilage and waste.
Ensilage spoilage and waste is largely due to the ineffectiveness of current equipment in removing only what ensilage is needed while preserving the anaerobic and compacted character of the stored ensilage. As part of the harvesting and storage operations, the ensilage weight compacts the loosely chopped ensilage product into a dense, compacted ensilage mass. The loose and free flowing ensilage stems of the freshly harvested product become extensively intertwined within the mass and, thus, tenaciously hold the ensilage mass together in a dense, compacted ensilage product. Compacted ensilage of legume cropping is most difficult to remove from open pits or trench silos since the intertwined stemming tenaciously binds the ensilage together as a solid and compacted mass. The resultant compacted ensilage cannot be easily removed manually with a conventional manual or mechanical drum fork equipment. The technique of removing the compacted drum from the storage unit typically involves tearing and removing a compacted segment of the drum from the silo pit.
Preservation of the ensilage in an unspoiled state necessitates maintaining anaerobic conditions. Excessive exposure to air accelerates spoilage. The most common method for removing ensilage from a trench silo (by driving a forked or bucket loader into the trench and lifting or pulling a torn top layer of compacted drum from the silo or pit) fails to preserve the anaerobic conditions. The tearing of intertwined stemmings from the compacted ensilage mass creates a highly irregular, creviced and porous surface. The irregular and porous surface increases the total exposed surface area to air which in turn renders the exposed ensilage susceptible to oxidative deterioration and increased spoilage.
In my earlier patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,987, issued Mar. 5, 1996, I have described an ensilage slicing device which uniformly slices compacted ensilage into ensilage particles from a compacted ensilage surface without adversely affecting the porosity or compactness of the unsliced regions of the compacted ensilage mass. The device described therein, converts the compacted ensilage into a forkable, consumable and uncompacted ensilage product. The ensilage slicing device includes a rotatable reel equipped with a plurality of slicing knives circumferentially positioned about the reel so as to uniformly slice ensilage transversely from a face of a compacted ensilage mass. A means for raising and lowering the reel along the ensilage face, and a means for rotationally propelling the reel along the ensilage face so as to uniformly slice and transversely remove the ensilage from the face of the compacted ensilage mass, are also included. The content of U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,987 is incorporated by reference herein.
The slicing knives described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,987 are of a planar or flat configuration such as a substantially flat surfaced knife equipped with sharpened cutting edges which are aligned upon the reel so as to transversely slice into a vertical face of compacted ensilage mass. The substantially flat slicing knives are positioned so as to project perpendicularly outwardly from the reel and to inwardly slice directly onto the face of the compacted ensilage product. The slicing action of the knives transversely slices the compacted ensilage along the compacted ensilage face and results in a uniform removal of sliced ensilage from the face to a depth onto which the substantially flat knives interiorly penetrate from the compacted ensilage face. The removed ensilage is provided in the uncompacted and fluffed form.
The described device of my prior patent easily removes the compacted ensilage by slicing the ensilage from the face of the compacted mass. The uncompacted ensilage produced routinely exhibits a reduction in particle size of up to 40 percent as a result of the slicing action by the knives of the reel. Other similar devices on the market likewise produce an uncompacted ensilage product of reduced particle size by cutting, slicing or otherwise tearing the ensilage. Although equally palatable to ruminants, such as dairy or beef cows, the reduced particle size ensilage can result in drop in milk production or slower muscle growth for these animals. It is believed that the smaller particle size of the ensilage results in reduced cud chewing in cattle, and possibly, to a condition termed xe2x80x9ctwisted stomach.xe2x80x9d Such production losses and the possible connection to serious health conditions for the animals consuming the ensilage is unacceptable to farmers.
In order to greatly reduce or eliminate the reduction in the particle size of uncompacted ensilage and, thereby, avoid production losses and animal health concerns, applicant has invented an improved ensilage processing attachment which overcomes these difficulties.
The invention is directed to an ensilage processing attachment for uniformly loosening and removing an uncompacted and free flowing ensilage product from a vertical face of a compacted ensilage mass with minimal ensilage size reduction, when the attachment is mounted to a powered vehicle equipped with a power source for powering the attachment. The attachment includes a supportive frame equipped with mounting means for mounting the frame to the powered vehicle. A rotatable drum is carried by the frame and equipped with a plurality of curved tooth members, tangentially projecting outwardly in a substantially curved relationship to a rotational periphery, generated by rotationally propelling the drum and curved tooth members circumferentially positioned about the drum so as to transversely remove the uncompacted ensilage product from the ensilage mass face, with minimal ensilage size reduction. A powering means for rotationally propelling the drum along the face, so as to uniformly loosen and remove the uncompacted ensilage therefrom, is also present.
The curved tooth members are positioned with all the curved points oriented toward the direction of rotation of the rotatable drum. Each curved tooth member digs into the compacted ensilage mass to dislodge and loosen ensilage without slicing or cutting the ensilage into smaller particles. The curved tooth members are arranged in helical patterns on the rotatable drum with all adjacent tooth members offset from any one tooth member. The tooth member structure and tooth member drum attachment pattern cooperatively interact to limit the bite of each tooth member while preventing kickback of the processing attachment device during operation.